Before the silver pill was caught, the abandoned boat was sitting on the Jingshi facing the head. After Xiao Taohua caught Haimo, he walked to the head of the boat and gently took the net bag. Da Taohua threw away the oar pole, took out a copper basin from the dark cabin, filled it with sea water, and placed it in front of the abandoned boat. Little Peach Blossom was also squatting in front of the basin. The two brothers were both looking forward to the abandoned boat, with a look of anticipation in their expressions.
Huizhou bowed slightly, opened the net bag in front of the basin, and took off the silver pills stuck on it one by one. His hands were very light, and each time he took one out of the net, he would hold it in his palm and look at it carefully for a moment, or he would nod in thought, or shake his head and sigh, and then put it in the copper basin. When the silver pills fell into the basin, they still floated on the water, clustered together, as if like attract like.
Huizhou looked at the dozen silver pills one by one, and then nodded to the big and small peach blossoms. The two brothers looked at each other and smiled, then ran back to the stern of the boat and turned around. Therefore, a basin was placed in the boat, and the two brothers were even more careful when driving the boat, for fear that the turbulence would cause the silver pills in the basin to spill out. Fortunately, the copper basin originally had a small face and a deep bottom, and there was a net covering the mouth of the basin. Even if there was a slight storm, there was no fear of loss.
The three of them were all busy as they were, as if there was no one else around. Only Jing Shi was watching on the other side, looking head and tail. Full of doubts, he heard Hui Zhou say: "My lord, I just watched Fool collecting sea foam, and I don't know what to say."
Jing Shi pondered for a while and said: "I heard Mr. Feizhou said that the people of Juo lived without parents and were born in the sea. I also saw that the shape of the sea foam is slightly like fish eggs. Could it be the embryo conceived by the embryo?"
Hui Zhou raised his white eyebrows slightly and said: "Your Excellency can recognize this without any shock on his face. He really has a perseverance in his heart. In our country, people live in the sea. Although they are not good at swimming, they are like aquatic animals who lay eggs. They are transformed by this thing. This The object is also similar to a clam and a turtle, with the nature of the essence of the moon. Every full moon, it will be fertilized and formed, floating out of the water. After being taken out, it will be placed in warm water to maintain for three days, and then it can hatch and transform into a human being."
Jing Shi hummed and said, "I guess not all sea foam can be hatched."
Huizhou sighed and said: "One or two out of ten can be transformed, and the rest will be known by yourself later."
After Jing Shi heard what he said, he didn't ask any more questions and just sat in the boat and watched the sea quietly. The canoe initially headed east, but when it got out of the way, it turned north and traveled far around Hamosuoluo Island.
At this time, the stars in the sky are as numerous as rain, and the moon is as bright as a mirror. The reflected light on the sea is also changing, like jade beads and broken silver, floating among the tides, which is very beautiful and moving. Looking down at the bottom of the sea, it is dim, deep and dark. Only when I occasionally see waves and streams of light do I realize that there is something lurking in the water. During this period, there were also jellyfish and crayfish swimming through the lake, just like clouds passing through the moon. Jingshi sat silently watching the scenery, and occasionally saw a boat swimming by the side of the boat. Its back was as big as the hub of a cart. It was at least six years old, and a smile appeared on its face. Although his expression was subtle, it was not hidden from Huizhou's eyes, and he listened to him ask: "Why are you laughing?"
Jing Shi shook his head and said: "It's just a trivial matter." However, the abandoned boat was not a big deal. He couldn't stand the old man asking again and again, so he had to say frankly: "I haven't visited the treasure place before, and I only occasionally saw the affairs of your country in the book. Because the content of the ambition is strange. , I suspected that it was a fabrication, but now that I am on the ground, I realize that hearing it a hundred times is better than seeing it. I just saw a turtle, and I remembered that there was a country in the Western Regions overseas in the book, named Longbo. Its people were taller and taller than ordinary people, and they were kind. Fishing for spirit turtles. I didn’t think this ambition was true at first, but now that I think about it, I’m afraid I’m just ignorant.”
After hearing this, Hui Zhou twirled his beard and smiled and said, "I'm afraid that you not only think about the turtle when you see it, but also think about the adult country after seeing the little country here."
Jing Shi was told what he was thinking and could only turn his head to look at the sea, which was regarded as acquiescence. Huizhou said again: "This Long Bo Kingdom is far away in the west. I don't know whether it is true or not. I don't know if it is true or not. But I think you are here to take the exam. If you are appreciated by someone with a high position, you may not be able to test it yourself in the future."
What he said made Jing Shi look at him sideways. The two looked at each other for a moment, and Jing Shifang said: "It turns out that Mr. Huizhou also knows about the big move."
The two of them were talking to themselves when they suddenly heard a sound in the distance, like a xun or a flute, lingering softly, like a woman's quiet throat, which made those who heard it feel sad. However, after Jing Shi listened quietly for a moment, he realized that this sound was long and long-lasting, and it was definitely something that only ordinary people could produce. Just as he was about to ask Yu Huaizhou, he saw that all the peach blossom brothers, big and small, had stopped rowing and stood quietly at the stern of the boat, looking wary.
The abandoned boat held the crossbar on his knees, and his expression was solemn. When the quiet sound gradually faded away, the big and small peach blossoms exhaled, relaxed their shoulders, whispered, and touched each other's heads and pinched their faces, which seemed to be soothing. Seeing this, Jing Shi immediately looked straight at the abandoned boat. Huaizhou said: "It was just the sound of fear of monsters. This thing is poisonous and difficult to deal with in the water. Fortunately, we haven't encountered it tonight, so you don't have to worry."
Although he said it lightly, Jing Shi saw the reaction of the three people and knew that the situation just now was probably extremely dangerous, so he asked: "Since it is called a monster, I think it is a vicious thing. I don't know what the specific situation is."
Huizhou leaned over and looked at the copper basin inside the boat, and then replied: "Although this thing is called a monster, it is not a real monster. It is actually a vicious fish in the open sea. Its fins are as sharp as a knife, three feet long, and it is good at imitating a female voice. Every time When the moon is bright and the tide rises, it comes out of the sea, tempting people to come close to kill and eat. This thing has another property, it can listen to people's seven emotions. If there is a living creature with fear in its heart, it can immediately know its location and call for companions to hunt. This thing is often found in Out in the sea, I haven't encountered Yuchen in more than ten years, but I didn't expect to bump into him today. I'm afraid that after knowing about it, I can't suppress my fear, so I just invited the murderer to the door, so I didn't tell him."
The two of them were talking about being afraid of monsters. There were shadows on the sea in front of them. Several mottled spots were exposed from the waves. It was a large black land floating out of the water. The peaks and ridges on it were weird and strange in shape. It was clearly a sea reef. When the boat was on the reef island, I touched the Jingshi with my hand and felt that its surface was rough and soft, covered with moss and dead algae, and inlaid with scallops and dead snails. I realized that it was not an ordinary reef, but a dead coral island. But looking at its scale, I really don’t know how many years it took to complete it, and why it withered away.
The four of them tied a boat to the island and climbed to the high place. The big and small peach blossoms have nimble hands and feet, and can jump up to the high rocks in three steps. However, the abandoned boat is still walking slowly with its staff, which is as close as shoulder to shoulder with Jing Shi. As they walk, they talk to Jing Shi: "This place is called Jingshan, but it is a thousand-year-old coral stone." It is accumulated. There are many hidden caves in the depths, which lead to the bottom of the sea. Please be careful when walking."
Jing Shi replied: "I can save it." Er then remembered something and said: "This place is called Jiaoshan, but it is the birthplace of Gu'erwan."
Huizhou smiled and said: "It turns out that Hun'er has mentioned it to your lord. In terms of the time of his birth, our country has always lived on the transformation of foam, so the place where Hun'er was born was actually in the house of stupidity, but when he was stupid and decayed, I found this child's egg, and it is indeed in a deep cave." After saying this, he stretched out his stick and pointed to the high cliff.
Jingshi followed his direction and saw a large cave hanging down, four feet in length and width, and a pool of clear water at the bottom, about two feet square. Its color was dark green, dark and mysterious, and it was unknown how deep it was. In the middle of the pool, there is a hazy silver light, and there are three pearl-like sea foam silver pills floating there. Although they are not as numerous as the dozen or so pills just now, their brilliance is slightly greater.
When Huizhou saw these three silver pills, he rarely felt happy. However, because they were far away, he was not in a hurry to fish them out. Instead, he pointed at the edge of the pool with his wooden stick and said, "My lord, you can see there is a white stone there, shaped like a bowl." I found a pearl here back then, which was as big as a dragon's eye. I took it back to the island and hatched it for half a year, and it turned out to be the Hun'er in the Gu'er bowl."
After hearing what Hui Zhou said, Jing Shi looked along his wooden stick and saw the big bowl-like pond stone beside the water. It was white in color and slightly yellow in color. Its texture was different from that of the nearby rocks. It looked like it was made from the bones of a giant fish. It is truly a "bone bowl" worthy of the name.
While they were talking, Taohua Dahua had already arrived with her net bag. The two brothers walked to the edge of the cave. First, the big peach blossom hooked its feet onto the stone and hung upside down from the ceiling of the cave. Then they grabbed the little peach blossom's ankles with their arms and hung him upside down.
Little Peach Blossom hung upside down, holding the net bag in hand for comparison, but she didn't throw it out immediately, as if she was unsure, she squeaked twice more, and started to swing in the air. The big peach blossom that dragged him swung around seven or eight times like a swing. Seeing that it was about to rise to the top of the cave, the little peach blossom suddenly threw the net and threw it straight like a whip, hitting three silver pills. Although it only touched it briefly, because the fine hairs of the net can stick to sea foam, it was easily brought back to Little Peach Blossom's hands. When the two brothers succeeded in fishing for beads, they cheered in unison and jumped back out of the cave. They grabbed the net bag to look and smell, and patted each other's heads and faces to express their praise.
The two of them played the monkey-fishing-for-the-moon trick with tacit understanding and skill. It was obviously not the first time they had used it. Huizhou was unhurried and waited for the two men to bring the net bag, and then he inspected the three silver pills and put them into the basket he carried with him. After he took the silver pills, the big and small peach blossoms took the net and ran away, searching around.
Jing Shi saw the two brothers running away, while Huizhou stood on the same spot with no intention of following him, so he said: "Mr. Huizhou, you said earlier that only one or two out of ten people can be transformed into sea foam, how can you tell the difference between them?" survivor"
Hui Zhou carried the basket on his back, glanced at Jing Shi gently, and said with a smile: "My lord, I think you have guessed something."
Jing Shi replied: "It's just a guess, I don't dare to make a conclusion."
Seeing that he refused to let go, Huizhou did not try to be mysterious, and said bluntly: "Although our people are not raised in human bellies, they are still similar to the babies of the mainlanders. However, the surface of the fetus is smooth and bright, and the babies it transforms will naturally be more healthy and stronger. There is hope of having a child. Moreover, the lifespan of our Juo people is also different from that of mainlanders. Some can live for hundreds of years, while some can only live for twenty-three years. They can all be known when they are born, just because of the size of their embryos. Just like the stupid and decayed Shang It is half a hundred years old, and if it could be hatched and survived if it was picked up in the sea, its lifespan would be about sixty years. And the three pills in the pond can live up to two hundred years."
Jing Shi snorted and couldn't help but ask: "How about the Gu'er bowl?"
Huizhou smiled and said, "My lord seems to be particularly concerned about that Hun'er."
Jing Shi did not deny it and only said: "Since Mr. Huizhou sent him to follow me, I thought there was something different about this boy. I just asked out of curiosity and had no other intention."
While the two of them were talking about this, they heard Peach Blossom and Big Peach Blossom greeting each other in the distance. Their voices were not as high-pitched as before. Hearing his carelessness, Jing Shi called for the two of them to return to the boat and set off, and then returned to the shore with the abandoned boat.
Huizhou said as he walked: "Since you have asked me this, I should not hide it from you. In the past, I found the Hun'er foam fetus in the pond. It was as big as a mountain core and a dragon's eye. It should have a life span of three hundred years." Its light is as bright as a falling star, which I have only seen in my life. When it hatches into an adult, although its temper is very naughty and impetuous, it has not lost its spiritual wisdom, and it has a natural foundation. There is no one on the island who can match it. Although Yuchi has not yet Instead of saying it clearly, I really intend to choose him as my successor. However, this son is still unfinished and has been unable to become a useful person. Therefore, I specially made him follow you, in order to increase his knowledge and help him achieve success."
Jing Shi said: "Since you want to entrust me to him, why don't you ask him to come with you today?"
Huizhou looked at him and said with a smile: "My lord, I must have seen Hun'er today, but I feel that he has half the intention to come. Tonight, these two children, Fudi, are also fond of their quality. In the future, they may think that they are medicine officials and dead people." The official took the two of them to practice, and the two children did not shirk. Only Hun'er was reluctant to respond in the early years, and occasionally came to help. Since his stupidity and age, he has made excuses one after another. Every full moon Never go in or out of the village at night. Hun'er is so naughty, what can he do if he is stupid?"
After hearing what he said, Jing Shi finally understood why Gu'erwan was so awkward in the first place, so he had to say calmly: "I guess he is just ignorant. He will naturally know your kindness in the future."
After the two of them finished talking about the Gu'er Bowl, they left the shore and boarded the boat, heading north again. Until the moon was at the top of the sky, not a single piece of sea foam was found. There was no look of disappointment on Hui Zhou's face, and he took advantage of his free time to talk to Jing Shi about the reason. Because sea foam has the nature of aquatic people that likes shade, it usually clings to the rock pillars under the island. Every time the moon is full, it floats out of the sea to absorb the Taihua. It naturally moves towards the moon and mostly appears in the east area of the island. Huazhou has been doing this business for many years, and he has long been familiar with the places where sea foam often gathers. Therefore, as soon as he sets out, he will catch something. Then he goes north, looking for fish that slip through the net, but he has to rely on luck. It's not surprising even if I can't find anything all night long.
Jing Shi got his advice and realized the mystery. He suddenly remembered something and said: "Since sea foam has the nature of gathering in groups, how can it be named after the place where it was born? If several babies were born in the same place, there would be so many people with the same name that it would be difficult to distinguish them." .”
After hearing his question, Huizhou sighed softly and said: "If this can be done, it will be a great joy. Sir, please take a look." As he spoke, he stretched out his wooden stick and gently lifted the net bag covering the copper basin between them. Revealed.
Jing Shi bent over and looked around, and saw clusters of silver flowers in the basin. They were about a dozen sea foam floating in one place, touching and swaying with each other. At first glance, there was nothing strange. However, after counting carefully, he frowned and said: "Previously, there was nothing strange in the sea. Fourteen were found, and then three were found on the reef, but now there are five pills missing, and the size is different from before."
Huizhou said slowly: "My lord, it seems that there are fewer of them, but in fact they are still in this basin." After saying that, he gently tapped the foam on the edge of the basin with his wooden stick and said, "The five pieces that disappeared are here."
At this time, because the boat was traveling on the sea, it was unavoidable that the wind and waves were bumpy, and the sea water in the basin shook the bubble flowers, but Jing Shi didn't pay much attention. After he picked it up in the abandoned boat, he realized that the foam was very fine and dense and had not broken for a long time. He immediately realized something and said in silence for a moment: "It turns out that the name of the fetus is Haimo. This is the origin."
The abandoned boat slowly returned the net to the basin, and said calmly: "Whenever a young fetus leaves the source of the sea, it will often show signs of wilting. Yuchen said before that only one or two out of ten can be transformed, but it is based on the number of those who returned to the shore. In fact, every time a fetus is taken, some will die prematurely and turn into water foam on their own. Especially for fetuses born from the same place, the more people they gather, the more they will turn into foam. In the end, it is lucky to be able to save even one of them. . If there is a bad year and a bad year, it is not uncommon for months to go by without a single live fetus."
After hearing this, Jing Shi thought for a moment and responded: "In that case, if you only take a small amount every month, can you keep more?"
Huizhou shook his head slightly and said: "This method has been tried in ancient times. If only a few are taken, none of the fetuses will survive. The reason why the great human beings say is that the gathering of fetuses in groups has the effect of complementation and mutual benefit. If there is no stillbirth, it will be transformed. If the foamy water nourishes it, the remaining parts will have no vitality.”
When Jing Shi heard what he said, he was speechless. Then he realized that the people living in this paradise are all strong and healthy. There are no worries about hunger or cold inside, and there are no strong enemies or evil neighbors outside. However, the people are so sparsely populated. It is the difficulty of their reproduction. It's just that since the Jiao people are not born in the human womb and are born purely from water, but they are divided into male and female, it can't help but be regarded as a strange thing.
Afterwards, four people went on a boat trip in the middle of the night and patrolled all the northeastern side of the island. During this time, we encountered strange fish and sights, and whales sang and dolphin songs were heard. However, as Huizhou had said before, no sea foam was seen rising. After working so hard in the middle of the night, the ice wheel fell to the west, so we had to turn the boat back to the island. The four of them set up the boat and landed on the shore, then opened the copper basin and looked at it. They saw that the brilliance inside had fallen away, and only four silver pills were left. Seeing this situation, the big and small peach blossoms rarely made any noise. They just took a wooden spoon from the boat, mixed the four pills with the sea water, picked them up one by one, and put them into the earthen vase. Then the two hugged the vase and walked slowly towards Nakamura. Jingshi and the abandoned boat followed.
Because the big and small peach blossoms had to pay attention to the bottle, they stopped playing and running around on the way back and walked extra carefully. By the time the four of them slowly walked to the end of the village, the moon was setting and the sun was rising, and the sky was about to become bright. The four of them walked to the entrance of the village and looked up, only to see a man standing by the road, with a stooped body and a dark body. There was something lying at the feet of this man, his head buried in the mud, groaning and squirming. It was a young black pig.
When Huizhou saw this person, his two white eyebrows suddenly raised, unable to conceal his surprise. When the other party came closer, it was Wu Ma, the dead official who lived in seclusion in the mountain. The big and small peach blossoms were walking ahead holding the vase, but suddenly they encountered a black horse blocking the way, but they seemed to be very frightened, mutely lowered their heads, and retreated behind the abandoned boat.
Wu Ma seemed unaware and walked slowly closer, bowed slightly to the abandoned boat and said, "How are you doing, old man?"
Huizhou looked as usual, nodded to him and said: "Okay. Who is this time?"
Wu Ma said: "It's Yunqiao'er. I'll come to collect his belongings in three days."
Huizhou responded and said after a moment: "Thank you for your hard work."
There was no emotion or anger on Wuma's face, he just said: "It's my duty." Then he walked to the trail outside the village. Although both of them were Yi people, they had just talked in mainland Mandarin, which made Jing Shi understand clearly. When Wuma walked to the edge of the forest, the black pig Wuka, who had his head buried in the mud, also hurriedly ran away to follow his master's footsteps, but saw Wuma suddenly turned around, glanced at Jingshi with a pair of gray eyes and said, "Sir, Remember what I told you the day before yesterday."
Jing Shi was startled for a moment, and then he remembered the saying "life ends in three years", nodded and said, "Remember."
Wu Ma turned his eyes and glanced at the large and small peach blossoms holding the vase next to him. He just put a smile on his face and said: "Sir, you should go to places with plenty of water less from now on." After that, he picked up the black pig and slowly walked into the forest. go.
